


When You Grow Up Your Heart Dies

by Anonymous



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Friendship, Gen, Post-Movie: Shazam (2019)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19800520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When Thad joined up with the caterpillar, he knew things might go sideways without him in charge of himself. He expected maimings, near-death experiences, potentially an untimely demise… but this? Even with all he knows about magic – has seen it do – he never expected this would be a consequence of trying to do the caterpillar's bidding.





	When You Grow Up Your Heart Dies

Thad, frustrated, kicked an empty cardboard box. It flipped on its side and some leftover packing peanuts spilled out. Still annoyed, he began to stomp the box until it was flat and useless. Useless like this  _ weak  _ body. When he accepted that caterpillar’s help, he knew he wouldn’t be as in control of things as he liked, but this turn of events had never been something he dreamed of. 

He gave the now flattened box one last kick, causing it to skate halfway across the damp alleyway. Now spent, Thad crouched down and buried his face in his hands. Into them, he swore, “Shit.” The caterpillar said he’d be back soon with a fix for his predicament, but Thad was starting to realize “soon” did not mean to it what it meant to him. Which, really, shouldn’t be such a surprise. It _talked_. It had known that old man and his siblings. It was probably damn-near immortal— If not immortal. Two-days time was very different for it compared to Thad. 

Thad lifted his face from his hands and sighed. If he wasn’t in this predicament, he probably wouldn’t care half so much about their differing ideas on “soon”. He stretched his arm out in front of him and squinted his eyes to try and clarify his view of his hand and fingers at the end of it. Thad wriggled his small, slender fingers and scowled. It was entirely different when he looked like he was maybe twelve and had to try survive on the streets of Philadelphia on his own… 

“When that  _ worm  _ fixes this I’m going to squash it,” he muttered darkly. 

Thad was drawn back to his current predicament a moment later when his stomach started to knot itself together with hunger. With a quiet groan, he pushed himself into a standing position and began to debate where he could next go looking for something to eat since this dumpster had been a waste of his time. He’d considered visiting a couple of family-friendly homeless centers and churches that served dinner the last couple of nights for some food, but he’d been uneasy of going in in case it brought up questions he wouldn’t know how to answer. Or want to. In addition to being twelve, he didn’t need to be twelve in CPS custody.

“Maybe I should take something from a grocery,” he murmured aloud.

“Not dressed like that, you shouldn’t.”

Thad sprung to his feet and turned around to see, of  _ all _ the people in Philadelphia, Billy Batson, the wizard’s champion standing in the mouth of the alleyway. He went stiff, angry, nervous, and unsure what to do. What he could do. Even without the aid of the wizard’s magic, Billy could easily defeat him right now. Even so, the last thing he was going to do was let him know. Putting on a sneer, he said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just you look like what you are,” Billy replies, casually leaning against the brick wall of one side of the alley, crossing one foot in front of the other. “A street rat.”

He balled his hands into fists. “I’m not a street rat.”

“Oh yeah?” Billy said, smirking with his arms crossed. Thad’s fingernails dug sharply into the skin of his palms. He wished he could hit him. The boy looked so  _ smug _ .

Through clenched teeth, he hissed, “I’m not a  _ street rat.  _ I just currently don’t have a house I live in.”

Billy’s smirk widened as he said with plenty of teenage-snottiness, “Street. Rat. Dude.”

“I am not!” Thad yelled, voice annoyingly shrill and even cracking at the end.

“Okay, okay,” Billy said, putting his hands up. Looking away, he huffed, “You don’t need to be such a baby about a joke…”

Thad bared his teeth, but said nothing to combat the insult. He was probably pushing his luck as it was, arguing like this. Billy was bigger, stronger, and presumably, he’d gotten several hours of sleep over the last day or two. There was no way he’d win in a fight if he lost himself and swung at the boy.

Seeming to take his silence for forgiveness, Billy snapped his fingers and grinned. “Hey! I have an idea, why don’t you come home with me?” he suggested, stepping further into the alley and closer to Thad (who backed away). “You can take a shower, borrow some of my little brother’s old clothes while we clean yours up, and have dinner with my family.”

He shook his head. “No.”

Billy’s lips curved into a pout and he demanded, “Oh, why not? You got a better idea for how to get something to eat without ending up in the back of a cruiser?”

Thad really didn’t, but he was sure Billy’s idea was just as bad as any of his own. Jutting out his chin, he asked, “Is your family’s not going to have questions about the extra person at their table in their son’s clothes?”

“No,” answered Billy far too quickly. He put a hand to the back of his neck and looked away, realizing his mistake. “I mean, yeah, but not  _ that _ much. My sister Darla brings home friends pretty frequently. As for you in Eugene’s clothes…” His gaze turned onto Thad and there was something to it that immediately set his teeth on edge. Thad tried to get away when Billy darted forward, but he wasn’t fast enough and quickly found himself in a puddle of mud and garbage juice behind him.

For a moment, he was just stunned. Then Thad pushed himself out of it, his face hot and brows knit together with fury. He leaped at Billy, trying and failing to tackle him to the ground of the alleyway. “Hey! You shit!” he cussed.

Billy just grinned at him, continuing to dodge his feeble attacks. “Your covered in mud now, so, obviously, that’s why you need Eugene’s clothes,” he said.

Now panting, Thad dragged himself to his feet and growled, “Are you going to tell them  _ you’re  _ the reason I’m covered in mud?”

The boy pulled a face at Thad like  _ he  _ was the imbecile. “No, we’ll say you fell, duh,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “Now, come on. You have to accept my invitation now. There’s nothing worse than walking around in damp, dirty clothes.”

Sounding more like a sullen child than he cared for, Thad demanded, “How do you know?”

Billy didn’t look at him as he guided them out of the alley and presumably toward his house. “I’ve done it a couple of times,” he replied, tone surprisingly clipped.

“Ah,” he replied, unsure how much more he should say. Or if he wanted to. The last thing Thad wanted was to start asking questions and find himself feeling  _ sorry  _ for the boy.

The boy looked at him over his shoulder, eyes curious. “Hey, I never asked. What’s your name? I’m Billy.”

He sighed and considered his answer. Finally, he said, “…Thad.” He doubted Billy would connect him to the bad guy, Thaddeus Sivana, he fought not yet six months ago. He looked twelve and before he’d been old and bald.

On the half of Billy’s face visible to him, Thad watched a grin stretch across it. “Nice to meet you, by the way,” the boy said.

Thad glowered at Billy and crossed his arms. “I don’t think I can say the same.”

Instead of being insulted, Billy ducked his head to hide his laughter in his shoulder, eyes bright with humor. 

-oOo-

Thad poked at his plate of tofurky, potatoes, and carrots. His father had never allowed him to be a picky eater, but he felt sure even his father wouldn’t have forced him to eat  _ tofurky _ . Taking a small bite of the potatoes, he glanced up to look around the dinner table. The children he remembered that day from the carnival were all here, except for the oldest girl. He wondered if she was out with friends or if her family had taken her back. Whichever was the cause (or not), none of the other children seemed distress, so Thad concluded it wasn’t bad. His eyes were then drawn to the two adults at the table. Billy’s foster parents were looking between him and Billy, clearly waiting for one of them to explain his presence. Thad scowled and looked back at his food, jabbing his fork into the tofurky before eating a piece. He didn’t like it.

One of the boy’s parents, the mother, sighed. “Billy, who’s your friend?” she asked.

Around a mouthful of carrots, Billy started, “He’s—”

Not wanting the boy to risk the boy saying something stupid on his behalf, Thad looked up again and said, “I’m Thad.”

Billy’s foster mother smiled at him, her eyes kind.“Hi, I’m Mrs. Vasquez, it’s nice to meet you. How do you know Billy?

“Hello Mrs. Vasquez,” he returned as he looked away and thought of an answer. After a beat of hesitation, he settled on his answer and told her, “I met him at school.”

“Yeah,” agreed Billy. A slight look of panic to his expression, he said, “We, uh, have English together.”

Thad fought down a scowl.  _ English _ ? Him and Billy were not the same age. “You do?” she said, doubt creeping into her tone. “I would have thought it was an art class or lunch you two know each other from, forgive me, I thought you were younger than Billy…”

“For real,” broke in one of the other boys, Eugene. The one the pair of jeans and polo he wore was from. “He’s wearing my clothes. You can’t be that much older than me Thad.”

“ _ Someone  _ pushed me into a mud puddle,” Thad grumbled. “And I’m in advanced classes,” he explained as he scooped up another piece of tofurky with some potatoes and carrot. Maybe it would taste better mixed in with the rest.

Mrs. Vasquez gasped, expression a grimace. “No, who did that to you?” she demanded, reaching below the table, possibly for a cellphone. “I’ll call their parents! Or the school maybe.”

Thad resolutely shook his head. “It’s fine,” he reassured her realizing he’d now made a mistake. He couldn’t tell her it’d been Billy. That would get him in trouble and bring to doubt their story. He should have kept his mouth shut. Why hadn’t he? Thad had learned better from his father and brother growing up… Could it be this child-form lessened his inhibition? He frowned, hoping that wasn’t the case and it was all just a rare slip of the tongue.

“It’s not,” she insisted, phone in her hand.

“I don’t think he meant to,” Thad replied looking pointedly up at the ceiling. “I’m mad, but it wasn’t on purpose and it would be wrong to get him in trouble for  _ that. _ ”

“Oh?” Mrs. Vasquez said, an eyebrow raised.

He met her gaze briefly, expression resolute. “Yeah.”

The last of the suspicion faded from her gaze and she smiled. “Oh, okay.”

“Sooo…” Billy drawls across the table, drawing their attention to him. Batting his eyes at his foster parents in a sickening display of childishness, he asked, “Can Thad spend the night?”

“What?” Thad murmured, surprised.

“Of course,” Mr. Vasquez replied. He looked at Thad, who was slack-jawed. “Do you need to call your parents first?”

Frowning he started, “I’m not—”

Bill cut him off and said, loudly, “We kinda already called them and asked…”

Mrs. Vasquez scolded, “Billy!”

“I was sure you would say yes!” he countered, crossing his arms.

Leaning across the table, Thad hissed, “Billy, I’m not staying.”

Billy kicked him beneath the table, causing him to jump. “Yes, you are,  _ street rat _ ,” he whispered back.

Thad was going to argue more, but the boy put a finger to his mouth and hushed him. “Shh!”

“Next time, you ask first, Billy,” Mr. Vasquez told him. “If it was the middle of the week the answer might have been no.”

Billy offered his parents an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ll do that next time…”

“It’s okay, son,” Mr. Vasquez reassured the boy, “you’re still learning all the rules.”

Mrs. Vasquez turned her stare on him, a thoughtful canyon forming between her brows.“Now, where are we going to put you…”

“He can sleep in my room!” the youngest child, a little girl Thad thought was named Dara or something similar, burst out.

Billy’s foster mother grinned at the girl. “That’s very nice of you, Darla,” she said. “but I think he should sleep in Eugene’s room.” She turned her smile on the boy who’d given Thad the change of clothes he now wore, eyes crinkled with amusement. “He has the emergency trundle.”

The boy puffed out his cheeks and glowered at Thad. “Oh great,” he complained, “you’ll need a pair of my pajamas too, won’t you?”

He frowned back at Eugene, annoyed at him for his irritation. It wasn’t like any of this was his idea! But he also felt a little ashamed, having to rely on the generosity of others to make it through this trial. “I can sleep in my clothes when they’re finished being washed,” he suggested as he looked down at his lap.

“No, it’s okay,” Mr. Vasquez broke in, voice hard and leaving no room for whining or arguing. “Eugene can lend you some PJs. He has  _ plenty _ .”

Thad tried not to feel too relieved as the boy huffed and grumbled, “Yeah, okay. But I pick which ones!”

Mr. Vasquez chuckled. “Sure, son, just make you give him a pair that fits.”

-oOo-

Thad stared disgruntled into the bathroom mirror, his gaze fixed on the sloth clinging to a hockey stick on his pajama shirt. It was so  _ childish _ . Thad raised a hand to touch his smooth, round cheek.  _ He  _ looked so childish. Hand falling away from his face, he clenched them into fists at his side.

Damn Billy Batson.

“Hey, we keep extra toothbrushes in this drawer, Billy said, popping his head into the room and startling him. Thad flushed an embarrassed pink, upset to have been caught unawares. Billy narrowed his eyes before stepping fully into the room. Reaching for a drawer on Thad’s right, Billy opened it and pulled out a toothbrush. “Here,” he said.

“Thanks,” Thad mumbled through his teeth before tearing it open. 

“Eugene’s PJs suit you.”

He gave a sarcastic laugh as he put a dollop of toothpaste on his brush (all of the stuff in this room was kiddie paste in disgusting flavors like  _ bubblegum  _ and  _ grape,  _ at least the one he grabbed didn’t have a stupid cartoon character's face on it). “Yeah, the sloth with a hockey stick  _ really  _ suits a nerd like me.”

“You’re a nerd, huh?”

Thad shrugged and stuck the toothbrush in his mouth. He wrinkled his nose at the sweet flavor as he spent a little extra care cleaning his teeth. It’d been a couple of days since he last had the chance and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Leaning over the sink when he was done, he spat out the blue suds and rinsed off the brush before setting it on the bathroom sink’s counter. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was placed in advanced classes,” he told Billy, who stood in the doorway, watching him in the mirror.

“And nobody’s missing a smart guy like you?” he replied, dubious.

Thad scowled at Billy’s reflection. “No,” he snapped. “Not for a long time!”

Billy’s expression was almost pitying and it took more control than Thad liked not to spin around and punch his teeth out. He didn’t  _ want  _ it! “That’s really too bad,” he said to Thad. “Well, I’ll see you at breakfast,” he said before slipping out of the bathroom altogether.

“Bet you  _ won’t _ ,” Thad muttered to himself as he turned back to the sink in front of him and picked up the cherry flavored mouthwash to finish cleaning out his mouth.

He would be out of here before breakfast. If he had his way, he’d be gone after everyone feel asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure what I want to do with this, exactly. I kind of know where it could go, but I dunno. Maybe I'll orphan it later.
> 
> Let me know all of your thoughts, positive and negative, with a comment or a kudo.


End file.
